Chapter 401

It is far from Great Marsh City, very far, to the southwest of Great Marsh City, go southwest from the edge of the Great Marsh for tens of thousands of li, the edge of Great Marsh Prefecture, the vast mountain forest is shrouded in rain and mist.

Sharp whistling sounds continuously echoed in the forest, like a large eagle crying in the high sky.

Slender figures darted through the forest, occasionally turning around, seemingly casually drawing their exquisite short bows and shooting an arrow behind them into the forest.

Thin and flashing with a greenish light, obviously poisoned arrows, wrapped in the mountain wind, made no sound, like swimming fish, lightly moving through the forest.

The forest was extremely lush, with trees' branches and leaves intertwined; in many places vines were dense, making it even difficult for snakes and insects to pass.

These arrows, however, seemed like living things, easily dodging the trunks of ancient trees, easily passing through clusters of vines, easily avoiding leaves and branches, following a smooth zigzag trajectory, accurately shooting toward their target.

The target was a Black Phoenix Army soldier wearing heavy armor, moving with difficulty through the forest like an iron lump.

Sparse arrows continuously shot out from the forest, like a venomous snake's fangs, delivering a deadly blow when least expected.

Whenever an arrow suddenly flew out from the mist and rain, the Black Phoenix Army soldiers hastily raised their shields to block in front of them.

If their reaction speed were just a little slower, they would end up like their comrades lying nearby, the arrow piercing fiercely through the weak joints of their armor, such as the gaps in the movable plates near the neck.

Or it would viciously pierce through the gaps in their face armor, accurately passing through the eye holes exposed in the faceplate.

The arrows' force was immense; the Black Phoenix Army soldiers' bodies could not withstand the puncture, and once the arrow broke the flesh and touched even a drop of blood, they were essentially dead.

The poison on these arrows was an extremely complex mixture, made by blending at least two or three hundred kinds of plant toxins, mineral toxins, and the biological venom of poisonous snakes and insects.

The mixed toxin acts with extreme speed, and its toxic reactions are myriad, making it hard to find a specific antidote that can neutralize all toxins; those struck by the arrows would convulse and then lose all breath.

An exasperated Black Phoenix Army commander leapt into the air, burst through the dense branches and leaves above, and hovered high aloft to gaze into the distance.

The forest was snow‑white, dense green garments covering everything; under the forest's cover, they could not see where those slender enemies were.

The indigenous people ruling this mountain forest are a type of human group called the 'Wood Spirit'.

Their bodies and features differ little from humans; indeed, Wood Spirits can intermarry with humans and successfully bear offspring.

The only difference is that Wood Spirits are small and delicate; regardless of gender, their height is at most about six chi. Moreover, they have heads of green hair, whose shade varies with age and cultivation.

Their eyes are also green; the richer the green in their pupils, the purer their bloodline and the stronger their power.

Wood Spirits are innately attuned to postnatal yin wood power, and the royal bloodline among them is naturally perfectly compatible with innate yang wood power. Thus, in the forest they are virtually unstoppable.

They are children of the forest; when they sprint through the woods, even the densest thicket of thorns poses no obstacle, the most ferocious man‑eating vines do not harm them, the most savage beasts do not bare their fangs at them, and even the most sinister poisonous snakes harbor no thought of harming them…

They are naturally adept at the Wood Escape Technique; most master the hurricane power derived from wood energy, and a significant number master the thunder power derived from wood energy, so their magic is proficient and their combat power astonishing.

They receive the forest's protection and favor… just like the arrows they shoot.

The Black Phoenix Army soldiers used strong bows and crossbows in the forest, but the bolts they fired traveled only a short distance before being blocked by trunks, branches, vines, shrubs, and all manner of forest obstacles, unable to threaten these Wood Spirits at all.

The arrows shot by the Wood Spirits, however, are like fish in water—they never touch those obstacles, but instead strike precisely at the vital points of the Black Phoenix Army soldiers.

After the Black Phoenix Army teamed with the main force of the Divine Might Army to develop Great Marsh Prefecture, they continued to expand southwestward, opening new territories.

As a result, they encountered these troublesome Wood Spirits; on the edge of this mountain forest they have been entangled with the Wood Spirits for over two years, suffering losses in men and material several times greater than when they first developed Great Marsh Prefecture, yet they have hardly managed to seize any new land.

The front line stalled, casualties mounted, morale sank, and logistical supply began to encounter problems.

Were it not for the personal charisma of the Black Phoenix Army's commander, the army would probably have already collapsed under the strain.

Outside the forest, on a plain, in the vast newly opened fields, a few scattered figures were weeding the fields with difficulty and tending the crops.

Beside the fields stood a sizable military camp, its earth‑and‑wood mixed wall rising several zhang high, with an arrow tower every twenty zhang; on the wall, Black Phoenix Army soldiers stood straight‑waisted, spiritedly gazing in all directions.

The camp had only north and south gates; at this moment two tower ships about thirty zhang long skimmed low overhead, flying toward the south gate.

The tower ships' surfaces were dim, the protective barrier's light curtain flickering unstably—clearly the internal power core had failed, or perhaps there were insufficient origin energy crystals, leaving insufficient energy for the ships' formations to operate.

Lacking sufficient energy, the two tower ships could still take flight, but only at low altitude below a hundred zhang.

On the deck of the tower ships lay neatly arranged corpses numbering over a hundred, with hundreds of wounded soldiers sitting listlessly to the side.

Those soldiers wounded by the poisoned arrows undoubtedly died.

These wounded soldiers, however, were injured in the Wood Spirits' surprise attack.

The Wood Spirits mastered wood‑system techniques, wind blades and thunder methods, and could also drive strange exotic flowers and grasses to attack; some ancient trees, long‑standing and nearly ready to shed their bodies, were driven by them to join the assault, and large numbers of beasts, pythons, giant snakes, and poisonous snakes cooperated in the attack.

Fortunately, the wood spirits aren't very fond of close-quarters bloody slaughter; they prefer to attack enemies from afar with bows and arrows.

Otherwise, the wounded on the tower ships would not be only these few hundred.

A low, deep horn sounded within the camp, and several wisps of black mist, like faint flags hovering above the camp, parted to left and right, opening a path; the two tower ships flew through the gap in the mist into the camp and slowly docked on the camp's western side.

The central command of the great camp is a large wooden hall covering several mu, built of raw logs; each log as thick as a water jar, bark still intact, was crudely bound together by sorcery, forming this barbarically styled hall.

Elite warriors in heavy armor patrolled the hall back and forth, and numerous fixed sentries were densely posted all around.

Among the wood spirits there are no shortage of radical elements; in the past two years, near the Black Phoenix Army's central command, the army's high-ranking officials have suffered over a dozen waves of fierce assaults, and even several of its officers have been gravely wounded.

Because of the wood spirits' violent assassinations, the Black Phoenix Army was forced to purchase a powerful defensive formation—the black mist shaped like flags floating high in the sky. This great formation blankets the entire camp, effectively preventing the wood spirits' harassment and inflicting heavy casualties on later assassinating wood spirits.

But precisely because they bought this defensive formation… the Black Phoenix Army's financial situation is now dire.

"Army Commander, killing me would be useless…" Due to the overcast rain, the sky was dim and visibility poor, yet the hall was brightly lit by animal-oil torches; the Logistics Chief in charge of the Black Phoenix Army's logistics spread his hands, helplessly gazing at the army commander, Pei Feng.

"Grain and forage supplies can still last three days, but all kinds of military medicines, powders, pills, and so on have been completely exhausted." Wearing a faded blue‑cloth long robe, with a thick heart‑mirror oddly strapped over his upper body, the Logistics Chief let out a long sigh.

"Gold, silver, and the fine jade and gemstones mined these days are still plentiful, filling three whole storehouses."

"But these things can't buy logistics supplies; they're useless."

The Logistics Chief sighed heavily again: "Since we offended Sima Lang, no matter how much money we have, we cannot buy a single grain of food, a single pill, a single arrow, or a single sword from the Divine Might Army."

Tall and slender, standing half a head above an average man, with a lithe, vigorous build, strikingly three‑dimensional features—sword‑shaped brows, thin lips, a high nose bridge—her skin extremely white, hair jet black, lips vividly red, the black‑white‑red contrast striking, giving a strong visual impact; the exceptionally beautiful Pei Feng sat silently behind a large desk, her pair of lively eyes full of chill.

Pei Feng, the female commander of the Black Phoenix Army.

Clad in a black battle robe, overlaid with black phoenix‑feather linked armor, and draped with a crimson great cloak, her hair tied in a high male‑style topknot secured by a blood‑red sash, Pei Feng sat still there, like a congealed black flame.

Within the vast hall, dozens of senior officers of the Black Phoenix Army wore grim faces and remained silent, all helplessly gazing at Pei Feng.

As for combat, these Black Phoenix Army officers are all skilled fighters.

But when it comes to managing livelihoods, earning wealth, and overseeing the army's logistics… they truly lack the ability.

They have spent their whole lives fighting; they have followed Pei Feng's deceased father in battle all their lives, and in this lifetime they have learned nothing but slaughter.

When Pei Feng's father was still alive, they never had to worry about logistics and such.

Back then, they wore fine clothes and rode angry horses, their pockets full of gold, drinking the strongest liquor, riding the fiercest steeds, embracing the most beautiful women, and slaying the toughest foes. With sword and blade in hand, sweat and blood of their own, under Pei Feng's father's leadership, they stubbornly turned a declining general's house—one about to be struck from the Great Jin military rolls—into a first-rank duke's fief.

Pei Feng's father was their army lord, their elder brother, their benefactor, the one to whom they would devote their lives and souls for this lifetime.

So they now continue to devote their lives and souls to Pei Feng.

But… Pei Feng is after all not her father.

Even compared to peers of the same age in the Great Jin Divine State, Pei Feng could already be called a monster, yet she is simply too young, too lacking in experience. In the Black Phoenix Army these past years she has grown a lot, but it is still not enough.

So the once brilliant armor of these commanders has gradually lost its luster.

Their once crisp, new battle robes and cloaks also tore in inconspicuous places, gaining patches.

They once treated cultivation-aiding elixirs like snack candy, but now every spiritual pill is precious to them.

The Black Phoenix Army, which once commanded a million troops, has dwindled to less than half its former size after these years of wear, and even that remaining half falls short in cultivation and combat power compared to the once dominant elite force.

Does this Black Phoenix Army still have even a tenth of its former peak strength?

No one knows; no one wants to think about it, no one dares to think about it.

What's worse, after more than two years of entanglement with the Wood Spirit, the Black Phoenix Army continues to suffer losses.

"What about the food? Why not harvest those fields outside early?" a nearly three‑meter‑tall, exceptionally sturdy black‑skinned big man grunted out his suggestion.

"Uncle Ma, only ripe crops can be eaten… right now the crops are just grass, fit for livestock." Pei Feng narrowed her eyes, rubbing her temples hard with her right index finger.

"Poor!" Pei Feng sighed, pointing at the many commanders present and muttering, "I see on each of your uncles' faces as if a huge 'poor' character had been carved with an axe."

"I don't need a mirror to know; my face bears the same."

"Hey, where can we strike it rich?" Pei Feng murmured to herself, "Just find a place to make a fortune… or we could kidnap Sima Lang and extort him."

No one in the hall spoke.

Extort Sima Lang?

He is a general in the Divine Might Army, a first‑rank general, his rank equal to that of Jiang Hu, chief commander of the Divine Martial Army's Right Vanguard Camp; yet the Divine Might Army's establishment shows that, while also a first‑rank general, Sima Lang directly commands troops tens of times Jiang Hu's and indirectly influences auxiliary forces a hundred times his direct troops…

What's more, Sima Lang is a bona fide member of the Great Jin imperial clan, moreover the Crown Prince of the Great Jin 'Cang' King, and one of the most competitive heirs to the future Lord of the Divine Might Hall.

Kidnap a man like that?

Do you know how many elite guards surround him?

To Sima Lang, the Black Phoenix Army is nothing more than an ant that can be crushed with a finger—nothing else.

Rapid footsteps sounded from inside; a Black Phoenix Army colonel burst excitedly to the hall's door, shouting loudly: "Commander, Qian San has sent word… a big fat sheep, hehe, a big fat sheep!"

Pei Feng's eyes lit up; she slowly rose, hands pressed on the long table, and said in a low voice: "Report in detail—is it that Sima Lang fellow sending people to Great Marsh Prefecture again? Hah, what foolish lackeys has he sent this time?"

"Uh, the one they sent this time is a prefectural army commander…" the colonel entered the hall, hesitating a bit, and said: "That fellow's name is Huo Xiong; supposedly he's from the Divine Martial Army, and somehow he's been transferred straight from there to Great Marsh Prefecture."

"From the Divine Martial Army?" Pei Feng and the commanders in the hall stared.

The black‑skinned big man, Uncle Ma, suddenly cursed: "Commander, who cares if it's the Divine Might or Divine Martial Army—can anyone who comes to Great Marsh Prefecture be good? In my view, we should just do to him what we did before—kill him!"

Pei Feng hesitated, furrowed her brow: "Divine Martial Army? No… this time I'll go see for myself. We've already offended Sima Lang; if we provoke the Divine Martial Army too…

Pei Feng shook her head: "Let me first see what kind of man Huo Xiong really is."